


Important Life Questions and Skeeball

by KatieComma



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Isn't A Cheater, Family, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Kovacs Happened But Jack Didn't Die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29034768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieComma/pseuds/KatieComma
Summary: Riley sets up a pizza date with Jack to talk about life.
Relationships: Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16





	Important Life Questions and Skeeball

**Author's Note:**

> Jack didn't die on the Kovacs mission.
> 
> Billy isn't a cheater.

Jack wandered into the pizza place nervous. Riley didn’t often make pizza dates, and if she did it was usually something serious. The last one had been when he’d come back from the Kovacs mission and she’d sat him down to basically yell at him for leaving the way he did and not letting Mac go with him.

Riley was waiting near the skeeball and spotted him the second he came in. She smiled. Smiling was a good sign.

“Hey Riles,” he said when he approached. “What’s going on?”

She dropped a few coins into two side-by-side skeeball lanes and grabbed a ball. There was a nervous energy in her shoulders.

Jack played along, grabbing a ball and tossing it. He wasn’t really trying though, too distracted.

“So Jack,” Riley said, grabbing another ball. “When you have family. You trust them you know? Trust them to tell them things… ask their advice...”

“Yeah, ok, that sounds about right,” Jack said, throwing another ball that scored low.

She turned to him, tossing a ball back and forth in her hands. “And even though you totally ditched us last year for Kovacs…” She narrowed her eyes and let that statement hang in the air.

Jack didn’t apologize. He’d done enough of that already, and he didn’t really feel sorry; he’d stopped a bad man from hurting people. Riley knew that, but he’d hurt her too by leaving the way he had. So in the end it was a bit of a standoff. Just because they’d made peace didn’t mean Riley wouldn’t give him a hard time for it occasionally.

“You’re still family Jack,” she said with a fond smile. “I trust you. And I need your advice.”

Jack nodded, feeling oddly serious. A sudden lightning strike of fear went through him. Was Riley thinking of leaving Phoenix? Had she been offered another job and was asking Jack for his advice? How could he give her advice on that and not be completely selfish by asking her to stay?

Riley looked back to her game and threw the ball, scoring high. She had her thinking face on; the one she wore during an op when she was looking for a hacking loophole or working on some nasty code.

“Come on Riles, spill,” Jack said. “You’re killing me here. Look at my score!” He pointed to the digital scoreboard which was sad for the balls he’d thrown so far.

Riley laughed, but nodded and turned back to him. She took a big breath, opened her mouth, and her eyes widened looking scared. “Billy proposed.”

Jack’s brain went offline for a second. Once it rebooted he asked: “Billy? Billy Colton?”

Riley frowned and nodded. “Which other Billy would ask me to marry him?”

Jack shook his head. “Right. Sorry. Well… how are you… feelin’ about that?”

Riley opened her mouth to speak.

“Wait,” Jack said, “that doesn’t mean you’d be takin’ that job with them that he offered before does it?”

Riley smiled and shook her head. “I told him I wasn’t cut out for it,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the family business with him. He said he’d move here. Find new work. Maybe start his own bounty hunting business out here.”

Jack let out a huge sigh. “Ok, so how you feelin’ girl?”

Riley grabbed another ball, and threw it, almost missing her lane altogether.

“That good, huh?” Jack asked with a smile. He knew where her head was at. It was strange, doing what they did and having to make split second decisions that could save or end lives. And then big life decisions came along, with all the time in the world to make them, and they seemed impossible.

“I like Billy. A lot. I really do,” she said. “And that stuff with my grandma? Come on, that was amazing.”

Jack nodded. That was the moment he’d been sold on Billy. It had been such an amazing gesture, and Riley went on regular visits to see Dolores now. 

“Shows he really cares,” Jack said. “It’s not just anybody would do something like that.”

Riley nodded. “He knows the business I’m in, so I could talk to him about some things,” she said. “No secrets, but he’d be able to understand the stress, you know?”

“That’s important,” Jack said. “I won’t lie that it was part of the reason things were hard between me and your mom sometimes.”

Riley nodded. “I get that now. So I think that would be great. And everything else is good…”

“But?” Jack prompted. He grabbed another ball and scored decent with it.

“But it all seems too good to be true doesn’t it?” She asked. “It can’t be like this forever can it?”

Jack shrugged. “With the right person I reckon it could.”

“You reckon? Really?” She asked sceptically. “You’re gonna go all redneck on me right now while I’m asking for serious life advice?”

Jack shook his head. “Riles, I’m redneck 24/7, just accept it as part of who I am.”

“What do I do Jack?” She asked desperately.

“I can’t answer that one for you Riles,” he said. “You want my opinion on Billy? I can tell you the guy passes all my protective dad tests. And that I think he’s a cool guy. But only _you_ know if he’s the one to spend the rest of your life with. And you guys got a lot’a life ahead of you. You think you could look at that handsome mug of his everyday for the rest of it?”

Riley quirked a little smile. “His handsome mug?”

“That doesn’t leave this pizza parlour,” Jack said, grabbing another ball and throwing it badly.

“Oh, I am absolutely telling him that you think he’s handsome,” Riley said.

“What does your heart tell you Riles?” Jack asked suddenly.

“I want to say yes,” she said, staring at the digital scoreboard. “I really do. But I’m scared.”

“That’s normal honey,” he said. “Especially where you’re comin’ from. Your parents splittin’ up, some jackass redneck takin’ off on you when you were a kid. I get it. But you and Billy aren’t your mom and Ellwood, or your mom and me for that matter.”

“So your advice is to go with my heart?” Riley asked.

“You bet,” Jack said, throwing another ball and getting the highest score.

“My heart says yes.”

“So… you’re gonna say yes then?” Jack prodded. “You’re gonna get married?” He felt tears prick his eyes.

Riley smiled, but her eyes looked terrified when she met Jack’s gaze. “I think so.”

Jack let the tears fall down his face and he wrapped her up in a hug, making her drop her skeeball. “Oh honey I’m so happy for you.” He swung her in a circle while she laughed before he set her back on her feet. “Oh Riles, that’s great news.”

Riley nodded, and held on to Jack for a little longer. “I think so too,” she said. She stepped back and looked at him, her eyes misty but cheeks dry. “Thanks Jack. I don’t have anyone… to talk to about this kind of stuff you know.”

“What about your mom?” He asked.

Riley laughed. “She just kept talking about how hot Billy is, and that I definitely had to say yes.”

Jack laughed. “I told you. He’s a looker alright.”

Riley’s laughter carried a little longer.

Jack pulled her back in for another hug. “Don’t worry Riles, you’ve always got me,” he said.

“Damn right,” she said, settling into his embrace.

“Damn right,” Jack repeated.


End file.
